Gold's essence ultimately boils down to trust, and the true nature of trust, frankly, is the distrust between people.

From the gold and silver era to the gold standard dollar, and now to unanchored fiat printing, with the dollar's decline and the acceleration of multipolarity in the world—gold once again takes center stage. Economic phenomena may seem complex, but from a macro perspective, all appearances ultimately return to the essence. Today, let's start with how money comes into being and analyze why gold is "making a comeback as king."

Money was originally created to solve transaction problems. But transactions don't necessarily have to use money; barter can work too. The real issue isn't inconvenience but a psychological challenge: how to exchange without losing out?

For example, I sell rice, and you trade flour—it's easy to calculate the ratio. But what if you bring an ancestral antique? I get confused—how much rice is that worth? There's no way to judge.

At this point, money comes into play. As long as I know the price relationship between rice and money, the transaction becomes simple.

But what if money itself isn't reliable? If shells are used as currency, everyone would start digging shells frantically. The result? More and more shells, leading to devaluation.

Historically, humans have considered two solutions:

One is gold and silver. Mining is difficult, reserves are limited, and they are naturally suitable for large transactions; the other is credit money, like copper coins. Copper coins may be worth less than their face value, relying entirely on government credit—if the state is strong and controls the money supply strictly, preventing arbitrary devaluation. Even if the credit eventually collapses, at least the copper still has some value.

Credit money works domestically, but it doesn't hold up internationally. Because it's hard for one country to trust another's promises.

During the land trade era, gold and silver could barely sustain the system. But with the Age of Discovery, international trade imbalances caused precious metals to flow predominantly to a few countries, tightening trade chains. Although human greed played a role, gold and silver couldn't withstand the expansion of global trade, which later indirectly triggered a series of conflicts and wars.

To gain trade advantages on the international stage, the U.S. devised a solution: using the "gold standard dollar" as the global settlement tool. The dollar was linked to gold, and other countries' currencies were linked to the dollar. Thus, the dollar became the world's currency.

This system once operated efficiently, but every system has its limits. The current world order is undergoing profound changes, and gold, as the ultimate trust instrument, is being revalued in terms of its importance.